The Last of Us
by xxmollymooxx
Summary: Follow Ellie and Joel through their travels
1. Chapter 1

Ellie and Joel had been wondering around the over grown library for an hour. "Why is this place so damn big Joel?" Joel never answered Ellie. He was too busy looking around for an open exit in case any infected turned up. Ellie knew that she wouldn't get an answer out of Joel when he is busy thinking so she decided to go and explore the library. "Ellie! Stay close and stay quiet! I've got a bad feeling about this place! If you're going exploring then meet back here in 10 minutes! The building we need is on the other side of this library. Try and gather supplies. The quicker we get out the better!" Joel seemed very uneasy. Ellie stumbled over a rather large book on the floor. She picked it up and wiped off the debris with the sleeve on her shirt to reveal the title, _"The Science of the Human Body"_ "Hey Joel?" Ellie asked. Joel sighed "Yes... Ellie?" he replied. Ellie stayed quiet for a moment before answering Joel "It doesn't matter" she said back to him. Ellie placed the book back on the floor.

A few moments passed and Ellie and Joel were no closer to finding an exit. "Ellie? Come over here!" Joel shouted from the other side of the library. "Eurgh! But I wanna finish reading the book! I wanna know how Lucy gets her magical powers!" Ellie couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous she sounded. "Ellie! Just come here please!" Joel sounded tired in his voice. "Okay ok! Jeez Joel. I'm coming!" Ellie eventually pulled herself up from off the floor and dragged herself over to Joel. "Well? What is it?" Ellie asked. "Look... Isn't it beautiful" Joel gazed at a worn down black grand piano. "Jesus Joel! All this for a piano?" Ellie rolled her eyes and turned away from Joel. As Joel approached the piano, he began to play various notes on the slightly out of tune piano. As Joel began to play the few notes, Ellie couldn't help but turn back round to face him. "You play piano?" Ellie said softly with a smile. "Not really but Tommy gave me a few lessons before any of this started but I never kept it up. I kinda wish I did though" Joel pulled up an old crate and sat on it and began to play "Claire De Lune". Ellie found the old bashed in piano stool and pulled it up next to Joel's. They sat at the piano for what felt like a life time and for the first time in ages, the pair felt happy. "Joel this is amazing" but the all too familiar sound of clickers brought them both crashing down back to reality. "Oh shit! Ellie! We gotta go!" Joel grabbed Ellie's arm and they hid behind a fallen over book shelf.

"Oh fuck! Joel what do we do?" Ellie said to Joel in a quiet panic. "Ellie look! Up there! There's the way out! The only problem is how the heck we get up there!" Joel said. "Let me go! I'll find something to get us up there" Ellie stood up but was quickly yanked back down by Joel. "Don't be so stupid! Ellie you'll die!" Joel demanded whilst still grabbing her arm tightly. Ellie managed to pull her arm out of Joel's tight grasp. "Joel are you forgetting something? They can't kill me! I'm immune!" Ellie stated confidently. "Yeah they might not infect you but there's nothing from stopping them breaking your god damn neck! You are not going! We need to devise a suitable plan to get us out of here. I have bottles in my bag. We'll distract them then we'll make a run for it". Joel turned away to get the bottles out if his bag but when he turned back, Ellie was on the other side of the room. "Oh fuck!" Joel said to himself. Knowing that running after Ellie could potentially kill them both, Joel trusted her and believed in her that she could find something. Joel pulled his shotgun out and kept a constant eye on the three clickers that were roaming the area. He could see Ellie weaving in and out of the fallen book shelves being as careful as she could be. But then all of a sudden Ellie stumbled over a book putting her full weight on a half leaning book shelf and the whole thing came falling down on top of her attracting the attention of all three clickers. "Mother fucker! Joel! Help me! Joel! Fuck!" Ellie was screaming. Without hesitation Joel put a bullet in the back of the first clickers head making it drop straight to the floor. The bullet then attracted the attention of the other two clickers. "Ellie! Fucking move!" Joel shouted over to Ellie whilst running away from the clickers. Joel eventually got far away enough to throw a book on the floor to the other side of the room.

Once the clickers had followed the sound of the book hitting the wall on the other side of the building, Joel found it the perfect opportunity to quickly sneak over and pull Ellie from underneath the book shelf. "Shit! Ellie are you okay?" Joel noticed the puddle of blood on the floor by her leg. "Joel! Quick! Get me out this thing I can't fucking breathe!" Joel could tell that Ellie was struggling for breath and that he had to move quickly. "Ellie I can't pull you out without making a sound to attract the clickers" Joel said with a negative voice. "Fuck Joel! You can't fucking leave me under here!" "Ellie look at me... I'll be quick... I'll finish off those last two mother fuckers then I'll come back to get you... Okay? I promise" Before Ellie could answer Joel had took off to kill the last two clickers. Whilst Joel was trying to kill the last clickers, Ellie was trying to pull herself from underneath the book shelf.

Forgetting that Joel was trying to kill the Clickers, Ellie shouted "Joel! The fucking thing won't budge!" Quickly, Joel came running back to Ellie who was shortly followed by one remaining Clicker. "I got one of em! Ellie we gotta get you outa here now! Or else we're gonna both be dead!" Joel ran to one side of the shelf and tried to lift the shelf but more books were falling off the top adding the weight onto Ellie's little body. "Shit Joel! This thing's getting heavier! I can't feel my fucking legs!" Ellie was crying. "Here comes the fucking Clicker Joel! What the heck do we do?!" Tears were streaming down her face. "Just stay quiet and maybe it'll go away" Joel said with hesitation in his voice. "We ain't got time to be fucking quiet Joel! This fucking thing is gonna kill me!" Ellie shouted attracting the attention of the final Clicker. Joel searched through his back pack to see if there was anything he could use. "Fuck! Ellie we're out of bullets!" Joel said with panic. "What?! Are you fucking serious Joel?! What the fuck do we do?!" And for the first ever Joel didn't have a plan... "I-I don't know..."

Just as Joel and Ellie were about to give up they saw the Clicker drop to the floor and heard the piercing echo of a sniper. "Y'all fucking crazy?!" Stunned, Ellie and Joel looked forward and saw Tommy. "Tommy? Oh thank God! Tommy help!" Tommy dropped down and rushed over to Joel and Ellie. "Alright Joel grab one end of the case and I'll get the other. Ellie when we lift this you've gotta try and be quick okay honey?" Tommy said with a calm voice. "Uh huh" Ellie said barely being able to speak. "Okay Joel... 3..2..1..lift! Ellie go go go!" Ellie managed to drag herself from underneath the case and collapsed back on the floor once she was freed. Tommy and Joel dropped the case. Joel ran over to Ellie and held her in his arms. Ellie was unconscious. "Shit! No no! Ellie come on! Ellie wake up!" Joel felt like he had done this before and then he remembered Sarah. Tears started streaming down Joel's face. He was determined to make Ellie wake up. "Joel take this" Tommy gave a bottle of water to Joel. Joel sat her lifeless body up. He placed the bottle of water on her lips and started to tilt the bottle. "Come on Ellie... wake up..." Joel lightly tapped the side of her face. "Ellie?" Ellie's eyes started to flutter open... "Joel?" Ellie's voice was hoarse. "Oh God! Oh baby girl! I thought I'd lost you" Joel held Ellie in his arms and didn't seem to want to let go.

"I don't mean to break this lovely moment but we've gotta fucking run! I kinda attracted a hoard so we need to leave ASAP" Tommy declared. Joel let go of Ellie and stood up. He helped Ellie stand. "Can you walk?" Joel asked Ellie feeling like he had had this conversation before. "Yeah I'm good" Ellie hobbled off ahead of Joel and Tommy. "Wow... she's a strong un" Tommy said as he tapped Joel on the arm to gesture to start running. "Yeah she is" Joel smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a humid summer evening. Tommy, Ellie and Joel had been travelling via horseback for almost 4 days, Tommy on the one horse and Joel and Ellie on another. The purple and blue sky blended into a light bruise colour. "I think we need to rest up" Tommy announced. "I'm sure there's an old campsite a few meters south from here" said Joel. "Yeah? Ok we'll travel up to there and rest up for the night. See if we can get any food." Tommy said. Once they had arrived at the campsite, the trio dismounted their horses and tied their reins to a tree. "Right okay... I'll get some logs, Ellie stay here and see if there are any supplies and Joel search the area and make sure we're safe for the night." Tommy seemed to automatically take charge. Tommy and Joel went their separate ways meaning Ellie was left on her own to look for supplies. Ellie had quickly looked around the camp for obvious supplies but couldn't find anything. She knew that Tommy and Joel would be a while because it had been raining that day and the camp site was fairly big so she found a half attached hammock on a tree and lay down. Once she had lay down she was looking up at the sky. After a few moments of looking, faint traces of black smoke caught her eye. She instantly sat up. She rummaged through her back pack and took out a shiv. Ellie then headed into the woods. Once in the woods, Ellie tried to follow where the smoke was coming from and once she had gotten out of the thicker parts of the woods, a little log cabin caught her attention. The smoke that she saw was coming from the chimney of this log cabin. Ellie knew she wasn't alone. She ran and hid behind a tree. After peering her head around the tree, she had a feeling that no one was home so she approached the cabin. Instead of going straight to the front door, Ellie spotted an open window at the back, checking that it was clear for her to go, Ellie climbed through the window. Once inside the house, Ellie's first instinct was to check the cupboards for supplies but as she went through them, all she found was a cereal packet toy and a stale pack of cookies. Once she had searched the kitchen, she moved into the front room. Again she searched the cupboards and again nothing they were all empty but she found an opened letter lying on a coffee table. Ellie opened it and it read:

_Dear Mom, Dad and Lilly,__  
><em>_I'm sorry but I've run away and joined The Fireflies. I've looked to the light. I feel so much better now that I am with them. They tell me it's best not to try and contact you as it could affect our 'mission' whatever that means. But I do know one thing... I miss you guys like crazy! I ask about what this 'mission' is but whenever I do ask I just get a black eye and get sent to my bedroom. Well... it isn't really MY bedroom... I share it with these two little boys. They're brothers but they're twins and they're only 4 years old. Every night they scream and cry for their mom and dad and they ask me where they've gone. It's difficult you know... I mean, how the heck do you tell two 4 year olds that their mom and dad are probably dead. Anyway I hope you are all well and I hope I can see you soon. If you are unable to reply to this letter then meet me in the bunker in the park in 2 days. Stay safe and remember... I love you all so much!_

_Lots of love, your son, D xxx_

Ellie put down the letter. She couldn't help but cry. Reading the letter made her remember the times she had with The Fireflies. She had a little laugh to herself but then she remembered the bad memories. She remembered how the older girls would hit her because she was 'different'. She found it difficult to make friends because no one wanted to be friends with someone who was bitten and no one liked how Marlene, the leader preferred Ellie more than anyone else at the camp. She started having flashbacks of those days. She could even hear the marching inside her head but as the marching got louder she realised... "Shit! Someone's coming down stairs!"

Before Ellie could even think about hiding, a tall, handsome figure was standing in the door way. "Who the fuck are you? And how the fuck did you get in my house?" As the figure walked forward, Ellie could clearly see that he was holding a shotgun and he wouldn't hesitate about pulling the trigger. "Whoa. Dude calm down... I don't want any trouble here..." Ellie said. Ellie actually felt scared. "I'm gonna count to 10. If you aren't out my mother fucking house I will fucking pull this trigger! You got it?! Now fuck off!" "O-ok I'm going" Ellie turned around and began to back up and head back into the kitchen. Then she remembered she had the shiv in her pocket. With a quick whip of her head, Ellie pulled out the shiv, dropped to the floor and stabbed the boy in his left leg causing him to drop to the floor. Ellie then quickly jumped on top and pinned his arms to the floor. "Now listen here you mother fucker!" Ellie pressed her forearm into the boy's neck. "Who the fuck are you and how do you know The Fireflies?" The boy managed to wrestle Ellie off. Now she was on the bottom and he had his forearm in her neck. Struggling for breath, Ellie quickly brought up her knee and kneed the boy in his back causing him to wince in pain and move his arm from Ellie's neck allowing her to take in a deep breath. Quickly, Ellie threw the boy off of her and headed for the front door. As she opened the front door, a hoard of Clickers and Runners were waiting outside the door. Ellie immediately shut the front door again and headed for the back door leaving the boy on the floor. As she was by the back door, she saw the front door burst open and the infected come piling in. She opened the door and began to run out when she heard, "Help me! They're gonna fucking kill me! Please!" Ellie felt bad for leaving the boy but then she realised he tried to kill her but then she also remembered the letter and that he was part of The Fireflies and he could tell Ellie whether she was the only cure or not and find out if Joel was lying to her. She ran back and started to drag the boy towards the door but he was too heavy. "Get my fucking shotgun! It's over there!" Ellie rushed and got the gun and started to shoot at the hoard.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Joel and Tommy had both arrived back at the same time. "Where's Ellie?!" Joel asked. "Your guess is as good as mine" Tommy replied. "Shit!" Joel shouted. Both of the men were shouting out for Ellie and searching around the camp but when they heard the sound of the shotgun they followed the sound and both presumed it was Ellie. Once Tommy and Joel had arrived at the cabin they heard Ellie shouting. "ELLIE?!" Joel shouted. "JOEL?! JOEL HELP!" Joel and Tommy saw the infected crowded around the front door so they ran around the back and saw the open door. Both men ran in there. Joel grabbed Ellie and Tommy pulled the boy up from off the floor. "You okay to run boy?" Tommy asked "Yeah I'm fine! Now can we fucking go?!" Tommy ran out first and the boy ran out after holding the letter that Ellie had read earlier. All four of them ran back to the camp, got on the horses and rode away. After riding through most of the night, they stopped by a lake. The surroundings were calm and peaceful. For the first in a while the four of them felt safe.

Ellie was first to dismount the horse. "So... do you wanna tell me who the heck you are?" Ellie asked the boy. "Excuse me?! You're the one who fucking broke into my home!" The boy jumped down from the horse and walked closer to Ellie. "I fucking saved your life! I could've fucking left you there to be turned or killed! But no! I came back and saved your ass! So tell me who the fuck you are!" Ellie got right up in the boy's face. He went quiet... "Dominic. My name is Dominic" Dominic backed away from Ellie and walked over to the horse.


	3. Chapter 3

Two days had passed and Ellie, Tommy, Joel and Dominic were still staying by the lake. Between the four of them they had managed to build shelter even though it was just a few logs and branches crammed together, build a fire and gather some supplies. It wasn't exactly a picnic in the park but they were surviving. Ellie and Dominic weren't talking to each other after their heated confrontation.

"We can't stay here much longer. It's not the safest of places Joel" Tommy said.

"Yeah you're right. We can gather up any supplies we can get our hands on and then set off tomorrow" Joel commented.

"I'd prefer if we left this afternoon. We can use this morning to get anything we need. Plus it's coming up to hurricane season and we aren't well protected. I recon if we headed off in a couple hours we could all go back to Jackson County an-" Tommy was interrupted.

"Look… I don't mean to be rude. I've really appreciated you guys helping me out these last few days but we have to go our separate ways. I can't come back with you to Jackson County. You have people to get back to and so do I. It's been a real pleasure meeting you- well… almost all of you but it really would be for the best if I just got out of your way". Dominic said.

"Oh no… You're leaving already… That's a shame…" Ellie said sarcastically.

"Ellie that's enough" said Joel putting his arm out in front of Ellie to stop her from approaching Dominic.

"Ellie look! I know you don't like me and if I'm being perfectly honest I'm not that keen on you either" Dominic said before being rudely interrupting by Ellie

"No! You listen here shit head! You've been nothing but trouble since you got here. I should've just left you back at the cabin and then we wouldn't even be in this situation! We'd probably already be in Jackson County! In a safe place with nice people and warm food! But no! You had to come along and just fuck everything up! So please… Do us a favour and just leave now" Ellie shouted at Dominic leaving him quite startled.

"Ellie stop! Go cool off somewhere! Just go!" Joel shouted at Ellie. He couldn't help but feel guilty after shouting at her.

Joel ran after Ellie. Once he had caught up with her he could see that she was crying.

"Ellie I'm sorry but you have to calm it down. We don't know what he's like. He could be a murderer for all we know. You can't just keep losing your cool like that"

"Fuck you Joel! Ever since he's been here it's all been about Dominic! Oh Dominic you wanna play cards?! Oh Dominic you wanna go hunting?! Oh Domi-" Ellie broke down.

"Hey hey hey! Stop this. You're acting crazy this isn't like you" Joel said whilst putting his arms around her.

"You don't get it do you? It's not just about Dominic. I know Joel… I know..." Ellie wiped away her tears and moved away from Joel.

"You know what, Ellie?" Joel looked concerned.

"A few months back when all that went down with Marlene at the hospital. Afterwards you told me that they gave up because there were others like me and they couldn't find a cure. I know that isn't true Joel. I know that I was the only chance of this hell hole finally coming to an end and you stopped that from happening. Why Joel? Do you wanna spend the rest of your life having to live like this? Every day we wake up knowing that it's kill or be killed. Don't you want that to stop?" Ellie sat down on the floor.

"Ellie it's not that simple. You don't understand" Joel was finding it hard to swallow back his tears.

"Then help me understand Joel" Ellie looked up at Joel and gestured him to sit down.

"I can't Ellie. I just can't. You have to understand that what went down that night was the right thing to do. Maybe one day you'll understand but now, in this moment, I just can't"

Ellie stood up, "Okay then. If you aren't gonna tell me then I want nothing to do with you. I don't want you to talk to me I don't even want you to look at me Joel. We had a real chance at stopping this but you just ruined it. Not just for me or for you but for Tommy, for Marlene and for every other person fighting in this messed up world" She began to walk away from Joel

"Ellie please…" Joel sounded helpless

Ellie had walked back to the lake and saw Tommy. He was sitting on a log skinning a small rabbit. She sat on the log with Tommy and began to pick at the grass tufts surrounding her feet.

"Hey Kiddo you alright?" Tommy asked

"Yeah I'm okay… I think" Ellie said with a sad tone to her voice. Joel eventually walked back to the lake to join the rest of the group. As he approached the camp, Ellie stood up and moved over to their make shift beds.

"Ellie?" Tommy asked sounding concerned. He looked at Joel and hoped he would give him some answers.

"She knows Tommy. She knows about what went down at the Firefly Lab" Joel said whilst crying

"What?! She knows about you shooting Marlene too?" Tommy said jumping up to his feet

"No! and it's best if it stays that way. She can never know about Marlene Tommy. Promise me you won't say anything to her!" Joel was pleading at Tommy

"You killed Marlene?" Dominic came out from behind the bushes and stood with his hands in his pockets looking at Tommy and Joel.

"Shit" Joel said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"_Marlene, it's been nearly 8 months since I last saw you at the Firefly Lab. I understand what happened. I understand that I was the only chance of saving whatever would be left from this world. What I don't understand is why Joel brought me back in the first place. I've asked him about it but he said that I can't know but all I need to know is that what he did was for the best. God I miss you and I hope that you are safe. I'm doing alright I suppose. We picked up a straggler we saved from a cabin called Dominic. He said that he's with the Firefly's? Hopefully if I see you again we can talk about all of this and see if we can come to some arrangement. _

_I miss you._

_From Ellie _

_P.S Endure and Survive" _

Ellie put her diary and blunt pencil in her rucksack and lay back on her bed.

"Ellie? You good to go?" Tommy approached her.

"Yeah I suppose. Where we headin'?" Ellie asked whilst she was packing up the few items she had.

"Back to Jackson County" Tommy smiled and put his hand out offering to help Ellie up.

"Great" Ellie smiled back and pulled herself with Tommy's help.

All of the group were packed up and ready to go. Ellie could sense that there was a tension in the air between the group but didn't say anything. She slung her rucksack on her back and mounted her horse. She felt the horse slightly dip and saw that Dominic was also on Ellie's horse.

"Whoa, what? No no no! Get your own horse!" Ellie turned her head to look at Dominic.

"Well if you actually used your brain you would be able to see that there are only three horses and four of us" Dominic said with a smug look on his face but that look soon disappeared as Ellie shoved him and he fell off the horse.

"You can walk then! I am not sharing a horse with you! I'd rather be ripped apart by a Clicker!" Ellie got off her horse and her and Dominic were face to face.

"Okay that works for me!" Dominic moved closer.

"You two! That's enough! Ellie get on my horse we'll share! Dominic get back on Brooke! I don't want to hear another word from you two! Okay?! Okay!" Tommy came in between the two of them and pushed Ellie away.

Dominic mounted Brooke and Tommy and Ellie mounted Sandy. Finally, they were off.

The group had been travelling for nearly four hours and it was clear the horses were getting tired. However, it was getting dark and it had started to rain. They knew it would be difficult to be able to find shelter so they decided to carry on. They trekked on for a few more miles but then one of the horses, Sandy, stopped and refused to carry on moving.

"What now? Come on Sandy move!" Tommy was whipping her back leg to encourage her to move but the horse refused to move.

"The both of us are too heavy for us to carry, Tommy" Ellie said jumping off of the horse. She walked round to the front of Sandy and began to stroke her face.

"You'll have to share with Joel then" Tommy suggested. Ellie immediately started to shake her head.

"No!" She snapped at Tommy. "I don't want to share with him" Ellie demanded.

"Come on Ellie stop acting like a damn child! Joel has the strongest hor-" Tommy was interrupted.

"Tommy! I said no! I don't wanna go anywhere near him!" Ellie glared at Tommy.

"Well you're obviously not gonna share with Dom are you?" Tommy asked.

"Nope!" Ellie replied.

"Look, Ellie, take Brooke. I'll stay here with Sandy for a bit while she rests up and when she's ready again I'll catch you up" Dominic dismounted his horse and walked over to Ellie and Tommy.

"That would never work! What if we lost you?" Tommy asked.

"As long as you stay in a straight path I'm sure I'll be able to catch you up. Honestly it's okay I'll stay here for a while see if I can look around and find anything useful" Dominic said.

"If you're sure Dominic. This could be really dangerous. At least let us search the perimeter" Tommy put his bag on the floor and reached out his pistol to start a patrol.

"No you'd just be wasting time I can take care of it. Just go and I'll see you later" Dominic grabbed some rope from his bag and loosely tied it around Sandy's neck. He led Sandy to a tree and tied the other end of the rope to a branch.

"You two can share Leo and I'll have Brooke" Joel dismounted Leo, the strong male Stallion and walked over to Brooke, the weakest of the two.

Tommy and Ellie mounted Leo and Joel mounted Brooke, "If you aren't back with us within two hours then we'll come back here and wait for you okay?" Joel suggested.

"Yeah okay but I'll see you soon" Dominic sat on the floor and leant up the tree.

"Okay then" Tommy dropped his rifle on the floor. Dominic picked it up and smiled at Tommy.

Joel, Tommy and Ellie trotted away leaving Dominic and Sandy.

Dominic took in his surroundings and could feel the light breeze dancing through his hair. For a moment he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. A couple of minutes went by and Dominic was woken up to the haunting sound of clickers.

"Shit!" Dominic whispered to himself. He stood up quietly and put his bag on his back and held Tommy's rifle in the other hand. Because it was getting dark Dominic knew he was at an advantage. Two clickers emerged from behind a tree in the distance. Dominic knew he wouldn't be able to take both of them out so he decided to mount Sandy and leave but when he turned to Sandy he noticed she was gone.

"No no no! Fuck! Okay… it's gonna be okay… Shit!" Dominic stepped back but as he did he caught a branch under his foot. As the branch snapped both of the Clicker's simultaneously whipped their heads in Dominic's direction. Dominic was panicking. The Clicker's were getting closer to him and his instincts kicked in. He dropped the rifle, secured his bag and began to climb the tree in front of him. The higher he climbed the fainter the sound of the Clicker's became. He looked down and saw that the Clicker's were surrounding the tree base.

"Well shit! This is gonna be a long night." Dominic said to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dominic my love, wake up darling." Dominic felt a soft hand touch his face.

"Huh? What? Mom?" Dominic woke up. It was a dream. He wiped the sleep away from his eyes. He sat up and began to inspect his surroundings. The last place he remembers being was up the tree surrounded by Clickers but now he was lying in a bed. This bed was so soft and fluffy almost like lying on a cloud. The walls were painted blue with white polka dots. Dominic threw the blanket off of him and attempted to swing his legs out of bed but when he tried an enormous amount pain surged through Dominic's left leg then through his whole body. He shouted out in pain. A shorty, chubby boy ran into the room. This little boy just stood there with his head slightly tilted just staring at Dominic.

"Hey! Kid! Where am I?" Dominic tried to shuffle closer to the bed but his leg was too painful to move. The boy simply ignored Dominic and ran off.

"No! No! Come back!" Dominic pleaded. Dominic knew that trying to move was pointless so he just lay back in his bed. A short while after a frail old woman emerged in to the bedroom holding a mug. Dominic could see steam coming out the mug and the smell of roast chicken filled his nostrils.

"Hello there. My name is Maggie." Maggie shuffled towards Dominic and held out the mug of soup. Dominic was hesitant but took the mug from her bony fingers.

"Thanks. I'm… I'm Dominic but you can call me Dom for short" Dom took a gulp of the soup. At first it burnt the inside of his mouth but as it trickled down his throat and danced in his stomach he closed his eyes and smiled. Maggie laughed.

"Yes I know who you are Dom and by the looks of it you had quite a nasty fall" Maggie produced a bread roll wrapped in foil from her jacket pocket and handed it to Dom.

"Can I ask where I am?" Dominic said whilst placing the mug on the wooden bedside table. He opened the foil and began to pick at the bread roll.

"You're at McKenyon Homes. This used to be a home for the elderly but when all this mess happened a few of us who stayed here managed to stabilise the place and kept it as a safe haven for passers-by. I bet you're wondering how we found you?" Maggie sat at the end of the bed.

"Yeah… I suppose" Dominic looked at her. She looked friendly.

"Well… My son, Andrew, he was on patrol duty. He searches around the area; however, he saw the rotting corpse of a horse"

"Oh… That was my horse, Sandy" Dominic looked down.

"I am sorry to hear that Dom… Andrew knew that Sandy belonged to someone. So he returned and a bigger search party set out to see if there was anyone out there and there we saw you, curled on the floor by a tree with 3 of those Things lying on the floor. He radioed for the truck to come and pick you up and now here you are" Maggie smiled at Dom.

"How long have I been here?" Dominic asked

"You've been here for 6 days. Well… I should say you've been asleep for 6 days. May I ask why you were on your own? I presume the horse was yours?" Maggie said

"I'm sorry… what? 6 days? I've been here for 6 days? I've gotta go! Joel and Tommy and Ellie! They'll be looking for me! They'll think I'm dead!" Dominic threw himself out of bed but landed straight on the floor.

Maggie struggled to stand up. "Andrew! Andrew! Come quick!" Maggie shouted. All of a sudden a tall, slender man appeared at the doorway.

"Mother?! What's going on!" Andrew pulled Dominic up to his feet.

"We'll talk about it later! Just sedate him!" Maggie signalled to the needle and vile of liquid on the table.

"Wait what?! No!" Dominic began to struggle. He felt a sharp pain in his arm.

"Ouch! What are you doing to me?!" Dominic could feel himself becoming weaker and weaker. He was fighting to keep his eyes open but it was proving to be impossible. His breathing became slower and slower and then his eyes shut. There was just blackness.


	6. Chapter 6

Dominic could over hear voices talking in the corridor.

"Why did you sedate him? It's obvious he's broken his leg! Do you really think he would've escaped?" A girl's voice said

"It was just a safety procedure. We can't take risks Emma; you of all people should know that. We've lost too many members and we can't lose anymore" Dominic recognised that the male was Andrew but he couldn't familiarise the woman's voice.

"And you sedating him? How do you think that makes us look? He probably thinks were crazy!" Emma began to raise her voice.

"Shh! Emma look! I understand your anger and perhaps sedating him wasn't the best option but he clearly wasn't going to calm down. I'm sorry for what I did. I really am… Right It's 4 o'clock. Don't you have hunting lessons with Jase?" Andrew asked

"Whatever! I don't wanna talk about this anymore! Do I have to go? Jase is so full of himself!" Emma replied with attitude

"Em just go… Please… I don't want to argue with you. Mom wouldn't have wanted us to argue. I'll see you later." Andrew's voice began to fade away as he walked away. Dominic knew that he would be able to get Emma's attention if she was still in the corridor. He found a bible on the bedside table, picked it up and threw it at the wall on the other side of the room. Emma charged into the bedroom.

She paused at the doorway, "Oh… You're awake?" Emma asked with a shy voice. When Dominic had a chance to look at her fully, he noticed something. She was beautiful. Emma had long brown hair that was naturally curly but her curls were all knotted and tangled. Her cheeks were rosy red and she had the bluest eyes Dominic had ever seen.

"Y-yeah… Do you ha-have any water?" Dominic's voice was hoarse

"Oh right… Yeah" Emma approached the wardrobe and grabbed a bottle of water. She unfasted the lid and handed it to Dominic. Dominic's hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't grip the bottle so Emma placed her warm hands over his and helped him to drink.

"Thank you" Dominic smiled

"It's okay. You're Dominic right?" Emma asked

"Yeah but you can call me Dom for short" Dominic replied

"Look, I'm sorry about my brother sedating you. It was just a moment of panic. We aren't bad people and I'm sure, in time, you'll allow us to show you that we're caring people" Emma smiled

Dominic didn't know whether to believe her. What she said had sounded like it was something from a script. He was feeling very sceptical but when she smiled the sun caught her teeth and they sparkled.

"Is there any way I can move around? I'm sick of lying in this bed." Dominic asked and he began to take the blanket off of him. Emma stopped him and placed her hands on his leg, "I'm sorry Dom. You've gotta stay in bed. You aren't well." Emma looked at Dominic.

"I've only got a broken leg. Haven't you got a wheelchair for me? This used to be a care home right? So surely there's a chair somewhere for me" Dominic was looking around the room.

Emma snapped at Dominic; "No! Dominic you have to stay in bed!" She stood up and leant over him. Dominic was shocked. Why was she being like this? She was being so nice when she first came and now all of a sudden she turned into a bitch.

"I've gotta go. I've got hunting training" Emma began to walk over to the door.

"Wait, Emma. Can I at least have something to eat? I'm starving" Dominic pleaded

"I'll get Grandma to bring something for you" Emma didn't even turn round to look at Dominic; she just walked out the door.

Emma had left and shut the door behind her. The minute the door shut, Dominic whipped the blanket off. He swung his right leg round to the edge of the bed and with his hands he pulled, in pain, his other leg round. Once both of his legs were on the edge of his bed, he attempted to stand up, but he couldn't. His leg hurt too much to stand up but then he saw, in the corner of the room, a walking frame. Dom knew that if he could reach that he could try and get out. He dropped out of the bed and landed on the floor. There was a moment of silence to ensure that no one was around. Dom then began to drag himself across the floor over to the frame but then the door began to creek open.

"Dominic? It's Maggie. Am I okay to come in?" Maggie's frail old voice sent shivers down Dom's spine.

"Er… No! I'm naked! Don't come in!" Dominic shouted back to Maggie

"Oh… well I have some more soup for you here. Emma said you were hungry?" Maggie asked

"No! I'm alright thanks. You can just go if you want" Dominic could feel his heartbeat pounding in his chest

"Are you sure dear?" Maggie began to open the door

"Maggie no! Do not come in! I don't want the soup!" Dominic was panicking.

"Only if you're sure… I'll come back later on then" Dom could hear Maggie's footsteps becoming lighter and lighter.

_I won't be here when you come back later_ Dominic thought. He knew he had to try and get out.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Joel. Knock knock?" Ellie asked

"Not now Ellie" Joel sighed

"Come on! Knock knock!" Ellie asked again

"Fine." Joel said

"No. You're suppopsed to say who's there?" Ellie said

"Who's there?" Tommy interupted whilst laughing

"Ardvark" Ellie said whilst giggling

"Ardvark who?" Tommy asked

"Ardvardk a million miles to see you" Ellie burst out with laughter

Tommy couldn't help but laugh

"But that wasn't even funny" Joel looked at Ellie and Tommy who were laughing like little school children

They were walking down a dusty old road.

"Are you sure this is the right way Tommy?" Joel asked

"Uh huh! You remember Devon from back in the day? Well before all this went down him and his Pa used to own a car dealership and he always said if I need a car he'd hook us up" Tommy replied

"Yeah... that was before all of this went down... How can you be sure there will even be a car there?" Ellie butted in

"Oh Ellie... Ellie, Ellie, Ellie" Tommy scruffed up the top of her hair

"You don't know about Betsie" Tommy's face filled up with pride

"Betsie?" Ellie looked puzzled

"Oh no... Tommy not this story again! If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this story I'd be a millionaire! Matter of fact, I'd probably be a billionaire!" Joel laughed

"Well Ellie... back when Joel and I were young liittle boys our Pappa had a classic car collection! Some of the best cars around! But his favourite car out of the whole collection was his 67 Chevy Impala! Now this car was a beauty! Called it his pride and joy and most of the times thats why we think Momma left because he gave his car more attention! Am I right Joel?" Tommy let out a loud chuckle

"Yeah you're right Tommy" A small smile peered from the corner of Joel's face.

"Anyway! When Pappa died he left the Impala to us in his will. Now we didn't want to leave in an ordinary car impound so we left with Devon at his car dealership. It was kept in the little shed at the back of the field behind the car shop which is where we're heading now! If Betsie is still there then we can take her and go see and see if we can find Dominic!"

"Well okay then! Let's go get Bettie!" Ellie smiled

"Betsie!" Tommy quickly corrected her

"Oh sorry... Betsie" Ellie used a funny voice mimicking Tommy and she laughed. Tommy gave her a gentle nudge

"Look we're here now anyway" Joel walked on ahead

"Yikes! Poor Devon! This place is a mess! Come on I don't fancy hanging around here. Let's just get the Impala and go" Tommy led the way and Ellie and Joel followed

"Don't you fucking dare move another muscle or else I will blow your fucking brains out" the sound of a gun shot reloading echoed through Ellie's ear

Tommy and Joel quickly turned around and saw that a woman had the barrel of a shotgun pressed against Ellie's temple

"Whoa! Put the gun down! We don't want any trouble here! Guys put your hands up now!" Tommy qucikly put his hands in the air followed by Joel and then very very slowly followed by Ellie

"Like shit you don't want any trouble! I'm gonna give you to the count of 5 to get your mother fucking asses out of here! One!" The woman pressed the gun harder into Ellie's head

"Joel! Don't just fucking stand there! Help me!" Ellie pleaded

"Two!" The woman shouted

"Jess! What the fuck are you doing!" Another girl came running up behind Jess

"Three! Lilly! Back off! I got this! Go inside!" Jess shouted

"Joel!" Ellie was crying

"Four" Jess carried on shouting. Tommy and Joel were hesitant and didn't know what to do.

"Jessica Maye! You put that fucking down right now! Right now girl or God help you I will strike you down child!" Jess dropped the gun and Ellie ran into Joel's arms. Joel held her so tightly and kissed her head.

"What the hell is going on here?!" A tall, chunky man emerged from the car dearlership office

"Tommy? Joel? Well you sons of bitches! What brings you boys down here?" The man said

"Devon?! Shit man! It's good to see you!" Tommy walked to Devon and gave him a manly bear hug

"Wait, what?" Jessica looked confused

"Jessica! Apologise to that girl right now! Honey did she scare you?" Devon asked Ellie

Ellie pulled away from Joel. Her face was bright red with anger. She ran and tackled Jess to the floor

"Fuck you fucking crazy bitch!" Ellie was ontop of Jess and kept punching her repeatedly. There was bloody flying out Jessica's nose and mouth

"Ellie! Stop!" Tommy pulled Ellie off of her and restrained her in his arms

"She's crazy Tommy! She tried to kill! I'm gonna rip her fucking throat out!" Ellie was struggling, trying to get out of Tommy's grasp

"Ellie!" Joel's roar-like shout echoed all around and everyone went silent. Tommy let go of Ellie and Ellie just stood there, shocked.

"Devon look. We just want the Impala. That's all. We can't stay we really can't we have to get going so if you could tell us where it is that would be great" Everyone could sense that Joel was angry

"Erm... Yeah sure. I'll just get the keys" Devon was slightly lost for words

Joel approached Jessica and put his hand out to help her up. She took his hand and stood up. Jess struggled to find her feet at first. Once she was steady she brushed off the dust and used her sleeve to wipe away the blood.

"Why don't you come in for a bit? It's getting dark and you're probably hungry. We have more than enough food" Lilly came in front of Jessica and invited Ellie, Tommy and Joel in.

"I don't think tha-" Joel began to speak but was interrupted by Tommy

"Yeah sweetie we'd love to!" Tommy walked into the office leaving Ellie and Joel outside.


End file.
